Seems a lot of of benefit for a high functioning anxiety athlete 😝 like me, summarised nicely here :

https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/the-health-hub/vitamins-and-supplements/herbal-licensed/what-is-ashwagandha/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=nonbrand&gclid=CjwKCAjw8ZKmBhArEiwAspcJ7rWzhcspFW08E0Agsn1hNeUmVNPwllEinp1FT0HjyxuM4ZdPgvn_TBoC9tIQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Anyone have any experience?

Yes, Daughter takes one every night before she goes to sleep.  Seems to work well, whether it’s a placebo effect or not. I’m not sure. Best of luck . C

I do, cycle it monthly and take Tongkat Ali the alternate month. I found a noticeable difference.

I googled it.

Outside the usual quackery sites and people like H&B hawking it, everything I read was variations on “little evidence / no evidence.” That doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, of course, it may just mean that it hasn’t been rigorously tested. But that raises two further questions:

1) Do you really want to be taking something pertaining to be medicinal which hasn’t been properly tested?

2) Why do we suppose notoriously evil “Big Pharma” hasn’t tested it when there could be good money to be made?

There’s plenty of good things on the internet.  Even the Amazon reviews of a tested version are in the main good, but with a few bad reviews.

Apparently it’s been used for thousands of years.  Anyway I won’t bother, but I’m just looking for something to help me through a long haul flight if anyone has suggestions.

See your GP and getan emergancy valium or two?  Keep them on standby and take if needed?  don’t drink if you do tho.

Even the Amazon reviews of a tested version are in the main good, but with a few bad reviews.

Of course they are. No-one is ever compelled to write an average review.

Apparently it’s been used for thousands of years.

Many things have. People have been burying toads to get rid of the flu for thousands of years. My anti-tiger spray has proven 100% effective, fifty years and not a single tiger.

I’m just looking for something to help me through a long haul flight if anyone has suggestions.

Vodka.

I jest of course, but in seriousness: Take a book, take earplugs, take a neck pillow, take a tablet with a couple of movies loaded up (chair-back supports for phones seem to be the new ‘remember when we used to provide screens?’).

Scared of flying, go talk to your GP, but it’s one of the safest ways of travelling on (over) the planet for what should be fairly apparent reasons. What’s to be anxious of, “it makes some funny noises”? Lack of familiarity is scary, few people blink at getting in a car every day because, well, they do it every day (my partner is an exception here, she’s a nervous driver and a horrendous passenger).

For me personally the single biggest arse-ache to long-haul flying is other people. Well, that and arse-ache. Earplugs are a godsend.

(… you can put them in your ears as well)

What’s to be anxious of, “it makes some funny noises”

TBF Cougar, the op has some history of being uncomfortable on flights. ^ is the equivalent to telling someone with depression to cheer up.

Indeed – anxiety is by its nature not rational.  I have been a shaky sweaty mess at the thought of going to a pub I have been to many times

I’ve took it quite a bit over the past 5 years in stints, I suspected I had low T and read it could help so thought why not.
Things I’ve found whilst on it:

-Body clock appeared more dialed in, waking up at the same time everyday bright and alert ready to go
-Slightly bigger libido, but sometimes despite that less motivation for it if that makes sense
-Energy levels were flattened out with less peaks and troughs which helped with work, but didn’t help when you’d planned a big ride or big hike and there was things to put me off, bad weather, cold, etc was easier to have a lack of motivation, getting the head down and cracking on was harder to do as I more felt like “nah I cba not gonna think about it and find a good book instead” which lead to neglecting excercise.
-Seemed to stress less over things at work, depending on your job this could be good or bad, in my case it was bad most of the time due to the nature of parachute problems which require a lot of focus
-Had a shorter string in terms of things that would make me snap with anger, blame that on more T leading to more confidence and self esteem, if you’re not good at controlling your anger maybe not great, I was fine but had to think before I opened my mouth a lot more
-Felt a lot more dull in my emotions particularly around sad emotions, things that would bother me usually didn’t, a bit numb so to speak which wasn’t ideal when it came to things I should be emotionally bothered about, relationship or family issues etc. Wife described it as “cold and no empathy”, but was also very helpful for managing emotional stress with everyday life

I’ve stopped taking it now for a good 6 or so months as I went to the docs to get my T levels checked last month which came back normal, and I’ve also found since losing weight I’ve got some of the benefits without the drawbacks things like having more energy, libido etc. Haven’t started taking it again since then as I found out I have high blood pressure whilst at the docs and not sure if Ashwaghanda would interfere with those meds. But it’s beneficial taken in moderation I believe if it benefits you and your lifestyle.

It is important to remember though these are my experiences and not necessarily what other people would experience as we’re all different!

I have been a shaky sweaty mess at the thought of going to a pub I have been to many times

Yes, I heard you’d been dating recently

eatmorepizza thanks for such a comprehensive and detailed post.  On the plus such the tree reduction and emotional numbing would be great for my flying duration, but the same plus easy-temper is the norm for me anyway, so god-knows what it’d do to me in normal life!

TBF Cougar, the op has some history of being uncomfortable on flights. ^ is the equivalent to telling someone with depression to cheer up.

A reasonable point.

Levity is how I cope with things I find difficult, my thought process is that taking things seriously is way scarier so I’ll just take the piss, it’s how I get through life. The last thing I’d want to do is mock a phobia, that wasn’t my intention at all, but rather that making light of something might make it easier to cope with. Sincere apologies if that’s how it came across.

I’ve seen footage from therapy courses where counsellors sit on planes with nervous / phobic flyers and explain everything to them. “That grinding noise is perfectly normal, the pilot is just retracting the flaps which help with lift at lower speeds” and so forth. Might not work for everyone, but it does work for some. I had an ex who conquered her fear of flying by intellectualising everything, she could tell you what every click, whistle and fart on a plane was. (Spoiler: it’s often farts.)

So Aswaganda then.  After further exploration and actually quite a few scientific tests now being available, I took the plunge in September.  

Not expecting much and conscious of the 6-8 week time to feel any effect, in the last few days I’ve experienced a definite “brighter” feeling.  It’s a bit like the first time you go to the opticians and realise how blurry your vision actually was, not a jolt but like a small grey cloud has been lifted.  

It’ll be interesting to see how / if this progresses. 

do you believe it helps sleep? and at what dosage?

I bought a bottle of 180 and am most of the way through. I tried taking it continuously for a while and then switched to cycling it two weeks on one week off. Purchased with the hope of helping manage some anxiety and sleep better.

Disapointingly reading some of the posts above, as far as I can tell, it’s had absolutely no effect on me – good or bad – at any point, ever. Might as well be a sawdust pill.

do you believe it helps sleep? and at what dosage.

Not sure, I’ve had a pretty stressful month, have had a cold, and have the over 50’s bladder so I’m not sure if sleep quality has improved.  It’s 1200mg daily.

It could also be that I’ve come to terms with the stress-causing issues last week giving me a better weekend, I’ll see how it goes / if it continues.

Why do we suppose notoriously evil “Big Pharma” hasn’t tested it when there could be good money to be made?

They actually make billions selling vitamins and other health supplements, they’re branded so they look like they come from health companies with no reference to big pharma….

I do, cycle it monthly and take Tongkat Ali the alternate

Where do you get your tongkat ali from?